Dunk contest ends in a dunk-off

Zac Stites' final dunk in the second annual UCF Slam Dunk Contest impressed A.J. Rompza enough to warrant a lofty gift from the sophomore guard.

"I just might have to give up my scholarship to him," he said.

Despite being the event's shortest contestant, sophomore Stites rose above the competition to win the contest.

Sponsored by Cru at UCF and supported by UCF Student Government Association, the contest was held Tuesday night at The Venue.

The computer engineering major won the $200 first prize in a "dunk-off" with sophomore biology major Danny White. Stites defeated White and six other competitors by throwing down the four best dunks of the night and impressing the men's basketball team who were the judges of the event. Stites took two alley-oops, jumped over a trampoline and did a cradle dunk, a slam dunk made famous by Michael Jordan.

"He can get up, I have to admit it," sophomore guard and judge Marcus Jordan said after the contest. "Coming in, I thought Danny would be the one to take it home. But I wasn't expecting [Stites] to jump the way he did."

For his first round dunk, Stites set up a trampoline about seven feet from the rim. The crowd and judges looked puzzled as he stepped back to prepare for his dunk.

"I thought he was going to jump on that thing," sophomore forward Tristan Spurlock said. "I thought he was going to hurt himself."

Instead of jumping on it, Stites bounced from two steps behind the trampoline and slammed the ball in the hoop on his first attempt.

Stites was a crowd favorite from that point on.

White returned fire in the first round with a reverse windmill dunk, but Stites held his ground and took the lead in the third round.

After the third round, White and Stites were tied, and each was given a final dunk. White went first and attempted an alley-oop set from the second floor of the building, but failed to complete the dunk. Stites threw down a set up from his partner and walked away with first prize.  

Even though everyone else seemed to be shocked at his victory, Stites wasn't.

"I thought I may win it," Stites said after winning the contest. "The short, white kid is always a crowd favorite."

This was the second year that Cru, also known as Campus Crusade for Christ, held a dunk contest for students.

It was the first time that the regulation height was implemented.

"We had an adjustable hoop last year," said Spencer Dewald, the event's coordinator. "So the quality of our dunkers is a lot higher this year. I hate to say it, but a lot of the guys that competed last year wouldn't be able to do it this time around."

With the help of SGA, the event was also moved to The Venue to help accommodate a larger crowd, which Cru President Dave Pezoli said was one of the main targets of the event.

"The biggest thing we're trying to do on campus is trying to build community," Pezoli said. "UCF has such a large campus, and it's very easy for a student to get lost on campus."

Cru currently has 400 members and has branches across the UCF community.  

"We have weekly meetings every Thursday night with different events and activities," Pezoli said. "We're just trying to create a place that students can connect with each other and discover who they are."

Next year, Cru hopes to hold the dunk contest in the fall as part of UCF's Midnight Madness, a celebration of the start of the college basketball season.

"UCF always gets knocked because we don't have many on-campus traditions," said SGA Campus Traditions Coordinator Keal Blache.  "If handled right, this could be a regular tradition for UCF basketball. The players love coming out for it."